Mental health center buys Skokie building

$1.2 million grant makes purchase possible for Turning Point

Turning Point, a mental health care center in Skokie, is poised to expand its services to north suburban residents after a $1.2 million grant allowed it to buy the building it has long occupied.

The sale, which closed at the end of October, means the organization is now looking for tenants to share its 40,000-square-foot building. Ann Fisher Raney, Turning Point's CEO, said she hopes to create a collective of providers who can meet the wide-ranging health needs of people with mental illness.

The top priorities, she said, include adding substance abuse treatment and services for children. Eventually, she'd like to add more basic health care, too.

"My bigger dream is that one day we can have dentists," she said. "That is something that is very, very rare for our clients, and it saves (the health system) a ton of money."

The grant came from the North Suburban Healthcare Foundation, which aims to help the medically underserved and underinsured. Mary Ann Mallahan, who consults for the foundation, said Turning Point at first sought only $150,000 to add nursing services, but it soon became clear the organization could do much more with increased funding.

"We thought it was a good fit," Mallahan said. "They've been there a long time and have a great reputation in the community."

Turning Point's traditional services include psychiatric care, case management and adult residential living at houses scattered around the area. The organization serves about 1,500 people a year from towns such as Skokie, Evanston and Park Ridge. Nearly all of its clients are low income.

Last year, Turning Point added a program it called the "Living Room" — a walk-in center meant for people suffering mental health crises such as suicidal thoughts or spiraling anxiety. The center's staffers are trained to calm these "guests" before a trip to the emergency room becomes necessary.

Raney said that in its first year, the Living Room saved the state $500,000 in Medicaid funds that otherwise would have been used for ER treatment. As well as it has worked, though, it is open only 15 hours a week; Raney said Turning Point is seeking more funding to expand its hours.

Nancy Carstedt, executive director of the north suburban Cook County branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said a wider variety of health services available in one spot will be a great help to people dealing with mental issues.

"It's very difficult for them to keep doctors' appointments, usually, so having everything in one place will make it easier for them to get the help they need rather than have to go to several places," she said. "In my experience, that's really not likely to happen with people (who have) serious mental illness."

Raney said once the new tenants are in place, she hopes the groups won't just share the same building. The idea, she said, is to create a synergy that will allow the organizations to do more together than they could alone.

"I hope we'll create a learning community where we offer services, train each other, buy supplies together, be cost effective so we're saving money," she said. "… We're trying to be agile in the face of adversity."